I nodded. “As long as I’ve got some notice in advance, I can bake anything you want.”
“Are you sure you don’t want just a tiny taste, Jodi?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I really can’t.”
So now we had a dilemma. We had two diabetics. Were they on the same kind of medication that killed Richard? There was no way to find that out, but I sure wondered about it.
I looked at Jodi again. “Jodi, I wish you could have a taste of this.”
“Oh, me too. Honestly, me too.”
If I wasn’t mistaken, she looked a little worried. Or maybe it was that she was sorry to be missing out on the desserts.
“Say, Della, are you going to be hiring a new employee now that Richard is gone?” Lucy asked.
She nodded. “I sure am. I was planning on hiring one anyway before he died, so now I guess I’ll be hiring two. Were you looking for a job?”
She shook her head. “No, I think I might be retired. Unless Ed tells me that I have to go to work again. It just occurred to me that you might be hiring someone, though. If I hear of anyone that’s looking, I’ll let them know you’re hiring.”
She nodded. “I’d love to retire, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got about twenty-five more years left to work.” She laughed. “But yes, I’ve got to get someone hired. I might need Allie to bake a few desserts for me until I can find someone.”
“That’s no problem. As long as I’m not on my honeymoon, that is.” I chuckled. “It’s a shame that you lost such a good employee.” I glanced at Jodi and her eyes got big.
Della shrugged. “Richard could be a good employee when he wanted to be. But sometimes, not so much. Not that I want to speak ill of the dead.”
“I heard some of the rumors,” I said carefully. “Is it true that he was selling drugs at the back of your shop?”
Her face went pale. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked it, but it was the only way to find out.
“What? No. Who said that?” she asked. “This town is so full of gossips. That’s crazy.”
I did my best not to look at Jodi and Lisa. I didn’t want to give them away. I shrugged. “Well, you know how this town is. People have got to talk.”
Della took another bite of her carrot cake. If she wasn’t supposed to be eating sugar, she didn’t seem to remember it as she shoveled in another large piece. When she swallowed it, she looked at me. “Honestly, it’s all rumors. I wish people would mind their own business.”
I sighed. “Sometimes it’s the price you pay for living in a small town.”
She nodded and finished the carrot cake. We stayed and visited a while longer while they tried all the desserts I brought.
“I’ll be in touch, Allie,” Della said as I gathered up my containers.
“I look forward to hearing from you.”
When we got into my car, Lucy turned to me. “She flat out lied about Richard selling drugs behind the shop.”
“She sure did.”
I didn’t know what was going on at Sandy Harbor Catering, but I was suspicious of a certain diabetic that didn’t tell the truth about what was going on at her place of business.
Chapter Fifteen
“Here we are,” I said to Cynthia Hoffer, setting the desserts I had brought on her kitchen counter. Making the desserts for Henry’s Home Cooking Restaurant had been a dream of mine at one time. But I wasn’t as excited by it anymore. I still felt like I was wandering a little in life. Maybe marriage would change things for me.
Cynthia smiled, looking over the cherry pies and German chocolate cakes I had brought. “Allie, they look so good. You are a dessert-making genius. And my customers are going to be so disappointed they won’t be able to buy your desserts when you go on your honeymoon.”
“I’m sorry I sprang that on you so suddenly. My daughter Jennifer promised to bring you something on the weekends, though.” I felt bad about leaving Cynthia in the lurch while I was gone on my honeymoon. Jennifer was as good a baker as I was, but she had college, so she would only be available to make desserts on the weekends.
She waved away the thought. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll make it through somehow. You enjoy your honeymoon and your new husband. Alec is a great guy.”
I grinned. “I know it. I still can’t believe I was lucky enough to find him.”
She nodded. “You hang onto him. Good men are hard to find.”
I picked up the empty shopping bags I had brought the pies and cakes over in. “Oh, believe me, I will. Well, I had better get going now.”
Cynthia’s husband had died more than a year ago, and I hoped she would find someone to spend the rest of her life with when she was ready. I headed out to the parking lot and spotted Lisa getting out of her car. She was alone, so I headed over to her.
“Hi, Lisa.”
She smiled. “Hi, Allie. Fancy meeting you here.”
I nodded. “I just dropped off some German chocolate cake that is to die for. You had better get some while you can.”
Her eyes lit up. “Oh, I am going to have to order some of that. I’ve been eating out too often lately, but I don’t care. When I come here, I always order dessert because I know that you made it, and it will be great.”
“Thanks,” I said.
